


Something For Christmas

by shomarus



Series: Twenty-Two Angels to Defend Me [21]
Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 23:30:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13134450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shomarus/pseuds/shomarus
Summary: It's Christmas Eve.





	Something For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> at risk of not oversharing, the reason why i didn't post anything for the last two days was a result of mental health taking a huge dip as well as stardew valley consuming the past 14 hours of my life, heya
> 
> i'm still doing the christmas and after christmas stories though! i will not be posting anything afterwards to make up for the days i missed, sorry. :(
> 
> thank you for reading, i hope you enjoy!

The cookies were laid out, milk at its side (Carol had fussed with the arrangement for a good five minutes, even though Therese reminded her that they were going to be the only two eating them and that nobody else was really going to look). The tree was beautiful, some Christmas song that Carol picked up a week ago was playing on the phonograph, and the only lighting in the room was provided by pine-scented candles that lit up the place. The only thing left to do now was to get Rindy to bed.

Admittedly, that process was a little more harrowing than what Therese would have liked to claim.

“Come on, sweetpea. If you don’t go to sleep, Santa’s helpers won’t be able to get the rest of your gifts out,” Carol said softly, her fingers very gently caressing the sides of Rindy’s face.

“I’m not going to be in their way, mother! Besides, Therese was able to get some of my gifts to the tree, and I was watching her do it!” Therese watched from a distance, smiling. Rindy was a very smart girl, but that also at the age where she was becoming a little bit of a smart aleck as well. Earlier, she’d been arguing that there was no way, not even theoretically that Santa would be able to bring even one small gift to every child in the world. Therese would be lying if she said she wasn’t amused or even a little bit proud of Rindy.

Carol looked to Therese for some form of backup. Therese’s smile inched a little wider, a little bit more smug. “Yes, well,” she began the moment she realized that Therese was not going to make excuses. “Therese isn’t in charge of tonight’s presents! Isn’t that right, Therese?”

Not quite wanting to laugh in front of Rindy and ruin the illusion, Therese turned to smile into her hands. “Yes, you’re right. I tried to request you specifically, but alas…” Cue the semi-believable dramatic sigh. “It just wasn’t meant to be. And the other helpers, if they notice that you’re awake, they’ll simply give your gifts to another girl! Isn’t that awful?”

Rindy gasped, as though the mere thought was offensive. “Oh,” she said. “I guess I should sleep then.”

“Yes, let’s get you to bed!”

Therese waited patiently in the living room for Carol to finish putting Rindy in bed. “I personally think you should have let her camp out in front of the tree,” she said with a small grin as Carol came back.

“I probably could have too,” Carol laughed. “She needs constant entertainment, lest she fall asleep before even midnight.”

For a moment, they stayed like that, with Carol leaning against the doorframe and Therese gingerly standing in front of the television stand. “I had never really been excited for Christmas before, I don’t think,” Therese began, though she didn’t really know where she was going with that thought. She knew that she would be expected to continue, so she let herself ramble. “I know we’ve talked about this a lot over the past month and everything. Last year, I didn’t even have a Christmas tree set up at my own apartment. Hell, I hadn’t seen the point after I left the orphanage.” She paused for a moment; the word felt weird on her tongue. “It’s… It’s like you said. It feels like Christmas. It’s not just… The hustle and bustle of everyday life anymore. It’s not just another day. It’s… It’s our thing.”

Carol hummed a note of acknowledgement. “Our thing,” she repeated thoughtfully. “I like how that sounds.”

They didn’t really say anything further, so Therese took it upon herself to circle around to the cookie plate. “Now we finally get to finish these damn things,” she said. Carol had prohibited her from having any more than a quarter of the cookies, which totaled out to about… Six, really. Most of the cookies had been gifted to their most treasured neighbours (or rather, Carol’s most treasured neighbours, for it was usually her who orchestrated social gatherings rather than Therese), but the remaining few were left for them. The decidedly better looking cookies of the bunch.

Therese held out the cookie almost tauntingly at Carol. “Shouldn’t we at least wait until we’ve put away her gifts? Or at the very least wait until we’re certain Rindy’s asleep.” Though she did walk over to Therese and lean down to take a bite anyways.

“Good, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Carol mumbled around bits of cookie, and Therese laughed.


End file.
